BENGALURU: The delay in cabinet expansion is rendering ministerial berth aspirants restless and jittery. With no formal communication on when they will be inducted into the cabinet and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s New Delhi visit being postponed yet again, 11 of the twelve newly-elected BJP MLAs are all set to take a delegation to the CM. Speaking to The New Indian Express, a few of the new MLAs acknowledged that they were clueless and disappointed over the delay, but expressed confidence in Yediyurappa’s word.
More than a month after they were elected, 11 new MLAs of the BJP — who had quit Congress and JDS to topple the coalition government — claim they are clueless about what is happening with cabinet expansion.
“This delay is neither going to help the party nor the government. Voters in our constituencies have elected us with a lot of faith and trust amid a terrible political climate. They expected us to be part of the cabinet immediately, but we don’t know when the expansion will take place,” said Dr Sudhakar, MLA, Chikkaballapura.
The former Congress legislator, who retained his seat on a BJP ticket, pointed out that in constituencies like his, where the BJP had an abysmal presence, people had shown great support.
“The voter base for the BJP has gone up from barely two per cent to 50 per cent in places where their presence was dismal. The party should understand this,” Sudhakar added.
Out of all 11 newly-elected MLAs that The New Indian Express contacted, only four responded, of which just two were available for comment. Yediyurappa had assured them that his cabinet would be expanded around January 14, but the cancellation of his Delhi trip has altered plans.
The MLAs, however, claim that they have not been informed whether the expansion will take place or not at all.
“It has been more than a month since the results were announced. The CM promised to make us ministers and I am confident he will. Yes, there has been a delay, but it is left to the leadership and the CM when to expand the cabinet. We are hopeful it will be done in 10-15 days,” said K Gopalaiah, MLA, Mahalakshmi Layout.